CHARTERS TOWERS AND THE BOER WAR - UQ eSpace€¦ · CHARTERS TOWERS AND THE BOER WAR ... Thirteen...

CHARTERS TOWERS AND THE BOER WAR

Joan Neal

The South African War lasted for more than two and a half years -

from 11 October 1899 to 31 May 1902. Initiated ostensibly over the

rights to citizenship of the ""Ultlanders"" (foreigners) working in the

Johannesburg gold mines, it was in reality a struggle for political

supremacy between British and Dutch nationalities; it had overtones

of a war to protect vested economic Interests. The war had three

distinct phases. In the first, invading Boer armies Inflicted heavy

defeats upon the British and besieged Klmberley, Ladysmith and

Mafeking. In the second, armies reinforced from Britain and the

Empire, under new leaders, defeated the main Boer forces. The

two Boer republics were annexed in October 1900. The war appeared

to be over, but was entering a third phase longer than the first two

combined: huge numbers of mounted troops strove to suppress stubborn

and elusive guerillas. Australians were involved In the second and

third phases of the war, after colonial governments, with varying

degrees of enthusiasm, decided to affirm their loyalty to the Empire

by a military commitment.

Following the Jameson Raid in 1895, relations between Britain and

the Boer Republics rapidly deteriorated. By mld-1899 they were at

crisis point, and the Colonial Office sounded out the premiers of

self-governing colonies about local public opinion and possible

commitments should war come.

George Reid in New South Wales refused overtures from the Colonial

Office and from the Premiers of Tasmania and South Australia to make

an early commitment. His ministry fell on 13 September 1899, and

Reid was replaced by Sir William Lyne, a man of equally reluctant

imperialism, understandable while New South Wales, gripped by drought,

was struggling to recover from the depression of the 1890s. Sir

George Turner of Victoria also saw difficulties in justifying the

expenditure. Tasmania's Nell Lewis, Sir John Forrest of Western

Australia and Charles Kingston of South Australia were openly

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supportive of the war. The Queensland Premier, J.R. Dickson,

supported the Colonial Office from the outset; in July 1899 he

cabled the Colonial Office with Queensland's offer of troops, the

spontaneous gesture which Chamberlain had been anticipating from

Victoria and New South Wales. Seeing "a chance to help the Mother

Country", a way to reaffirm loyalty to Queen Victoria, Dickson

committed a contingent from Queensland solely on a cabinet decision.

His successor as conservative leader, Robert Philp, "was heart and 2

soul with Mr. Dickson in the step taken".

Opposition to the war came from colonial Labour leaders, some of

whom renounced pro-Boer views as the war progressed. Among those

unrelenting in protest were W.A. Holman, W.M. Hughes and Anderson

Dawson. Holman initially hoped the British would lose, but then

declared that he did not care who won provided the Boers retained

independence. Billy Hughes' scathing comments on the Boer War

continued for its duration. He compared Britain to "a great pugilist

attacking an infant"" and asking his little brother to come and '"hold

the infant while he gets at him"": "'It savours too much of political

bravado and swashbuckling to be on all fours with the noble traditions 3

of the British race." Anderson Dawson condemned the Queensland

government for sending a contingent, and denounced as "cowards" men

who would volunteer for it:

[I] disapprove of the action of the government in making an offer of troops to serve with Her Majesty's army in South Africa, and thus committing the colony to an indefinite and practically unlimited expenditure without the sanction of parliament.^

However, most Australian politicians adopted a middle of the

road stand, accepting the commitment once made. Opinion did not

divide along party lines. While subsequent premiers in Queensland

(Philp), South Australia (Holder), Tasmania (Lewis), Victoria (McLean),

and New South Wales (Lyne) upheld the decision of their predecessors,

the votes In respective parliaments cut across party lines with

government members crossing the floor in many instances to join the

opposition.

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The Queensland contribution to the war was considerable. Seven

contingents were despatched between October 1899 and April 1901, and

the subsequent Commonwealth forces also Included many Queenslanders.

Until recently little had been written on Australia's role in the

Boer War; there has still been no attempt to assess Queensland's

contribution or the war's Impact on local society.

Charters Towers volunteers were included in every contingent

raised in Queensland and also served with Commonwealth contingents.

Nurtured by the wealth of its gold mines, the city had a common

background with the Rand in South Africa. As migration to South

Africa from Charters Towers had occurred after the 1890s, many

residents had a personal link with Ultlanders. At the same time, the

city had close ties with Britain; residents revered the link with the

""Mother Country"" and the Empire. A number of mining companies had

London directors, and several of Charters Towers' leading citizens

were British-born, including the Mayor of 1902, Robert Gardner, and

E.H. Plant, the most influential mining magnate. Even some of the

native-born community leaders in Charters Towers were in a financial

position which enabled them to visit England frequently. The cause

of the Ultlanders and the necessity of proving Australia's worth to

the Empire were major Issues for Charters Towers, perhaps more

than for most other Queensland and Australian towns. The prosperity

In Charters Towers during the Boer War period meant that ""wages men"'

could afford the luxury of concerning themselves with outside events.

The activities of the Queensland contingents were closely followed

in the press by a large majority of the city's residents. The small

but vociferous group of dissenters and their organ, the New Eagle,

Labour's weekly journal, were rendered Ineffective by the well-

orchestrated campaign In the dally press, the Northern Miner and

the Charters Towcrc Mining Standard, in support of the war. The Boer

War was a major event to be discussed, supported, participated in

and celebrated, especially when Charters Towers men were directly

involved in a major engagement.

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A prosperous city, one of the world's leading goldfields in

1899, Charters Towers supported a population of just under 30,000

and achieved a record production of over 300,000 fine ounces. From

the mid-1880s output was increasingly dependent on deep-reefing

which required considerable capital, much of which came from Britain.

The development of company activity however, had an immediate effect

on the gold miners who were compelled to become employees, though

well-paid."Wages men" earned from £3.10.0 to £4.0.0 a week; this gave

everyone the possibility of home ownership and often "a surplus for

dabbling in investment"- Theirs was a society of "little capitalists",

but there was a ""radical tinge to their politics"".

Charters Towers had carried Queensland through the 1890s

depression in agriculture and pastorallsm, as local politicians

were forever reminding the government. The former republican

propagandists, Anderson Dawson, John Dunsford, and others, now Labour

politicians in the State Assembly, had not moderated their radicalism,

but they were engrossed in the Federation question and the issue of

White Australia in particular. War in South Africa and public support

for the British and the '"Ultlanders" cause, confronted them with a

pressing Ideological dilemma: Labour's philosophy was anti-war

yet probably more than any other North Queensland town Charters Towers

adopted a keen interest in the struggle.

Early opinion was scornful of Boer independence. According to the

North Queensland Register, it was about as important as saving the Q

Greeks - "both are back numbers''. Many believed that annexation of

the South African Republics would occur very rapidly. By January

1900, Charters Towers residents were becoming accustomed to speeches

by its leading citizens on patriotism and the glory of the Empire. It

was claimed that England was not to blame for the war: she had done all

in her power to resist it, but the insults and oppression which British

South Africans had to endure could be borne no longer. Prominent

citizens spoke of kinsmen from every part of the Empire "giving their 9

life's blood in upholding the Empire". Cheers greeted speeches which asserted that the British soldiers had shown they were as good as

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JOAN NEAL

ever; patriotic fervour reached a pitch unparallelled by any other

issue in the history of Charters Towers, even separation. No short

lived phenomenon, visible support for Britain and the colonial troops

in South Africa was sustained to the very end of the war. Critics

at home and abroad were sharply rebuked by the local press. Indicative

was a reply to a claim by Rudyard Kipling in The Times that the colonies

were not sending men willingly: the Charters Towers Mining Standard

featured the reply in full, which clearly reflected popular sentiment.

A definite link existed between residents of Charters Towers and the

""Ultlanders"' in Transvaal. The 1886 recession, following a period of

over-speculation and the petering out of the ""Black Jack"" mine, had

created serious unemployment in Charters Towers; emigration to new

fields, including those in Transvaal, occurred soon after. Indeed,

diamonds and gold on the Rand attracted miners and mechanics from 12

many Australian mining fields. The ""Ultlanders"" from Australia and

their relatives at home in Charters Towers and elsewhere continued

to correspond. In 1900, the Northern Miner carried the story of

Mr. T. Jones who had left Charters Towers for South Africa in 1888.

Boss of a shift at Johannesburg when war broke out, he decided to go

to Matabeleland; captured by Boers, he escaped to join the forces of

General Plumer north of Transvaal. His wife, still resident in

Charters Towers, had been about to join him when war was declared.

In response to a call for volunteers, more than twenty Charters

Towers men attended for medical examination at the Drill Shed on Friday, 13

13 October 1899, the day following the declaration of war. Thirteen

were examined and six selected. Preference was given to single men,

good riders, and "good shots", who had been connected with the

Queensland Mounted Infantry or Imperial Cavalry. The six men

selected, William Cox, Henry Rosslter, Bedford Butler, Arthur Furness,

George Wright and Joseph Mundy. were then scrutinized by Brisbane

authorities. When the First Queensland Contingent sailed for South

Africa it included five: the sixth. Furness, was to accompany the

Third Contingent. Two other Charters Towers men, R. and E. Anderson,

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were late selections. When it was confirmed that these men had been

Included in the First Contingent, Fred Johnson (Alderman and Building

Contractor) and H.B. Walker (Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce)

lost no time in calling a meeting of citizens to organize a public

send-off.

One hundred and twenty-five guests were seated at the function;

chairman for the evening was E.H.T. Plant, Charters Towers' premier

mining magnate, who deputized for Mayor Benjamin, absent at Ravenswood.

It was no coincidence that Plant was a major in the Kennedy Regiment.

Plant, proposing the toast to the Army, Navy and Auxilliary Forces said

that "though we In Australia did not like war, still we desired to see

those of our own race treated with that fairness which was meted out 14

to foreigners living in British possessions". He predicted a

successful outcome and the firm establishment of British suzerainty

throughout South Africa. In conclusion, he declared that Charters

Towers men would bring honour to themselves, the town and the British

Empire. Then cheering broke out and all those present spontaneously

rose and sang "The Red, White and Blue". Major Hooper briefly

responded, pointing out that though the numerical strength of the

contingent was not great, it still showed the world that every portion

of the Empire would be represented.

Robert Russell, director of the Day Dawn Reserve Mining Co., Stock

Exchange Director and a former captain in the Charters Towers Mounted

Infantry, proposed the toast to "'The Towers Members of the Queensland

Contingent". Amid cheers, he stated, "the man who volunteered to

fight for his country and his race was no cur"". Russell informed

the audience that Anderson Dawson had been a friend of his, but was

no longer. He told the contingent that he hoped they would come back

safely, ""but if any were killed, which was just as likely in a mine as

in a battle, then they at this end would do their best for their 18

bereaved ones". Each contingent member responded briefly. Sergeant

Wright saying that a cable had been received stating that only six

would be included but that E. Anderson was accompanying them to Brisbane

"on the chance of his services being required"".

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In his toast to the Queensland government. Alderman R. Klrkbride,

Manager of Day Dawn Freehold Ltd., referred to the controversy in

parliament over the sending of a contingent, stating that, if con

sulted, three-quarters of Queensland's people would have supported the

Premier. Fred Johnson made the salient speech of the evening in

toasting Sir Alfred Mllner: he stirred the crowd to a pitch of

patriotic zeal and those outside the hall even joined in singing

"Rule Britannia"". The toast to the press was proposed by a Director

of the Victory Mine, P. Allan. He used it to condemn once again

Anderson Dawson's remarks.

The reporter who covered the function for the Norther Miner felt

that all shades of political opinion were present. Between speeches

local vocalists sang patriotic songs. While Mr. Portous was singing

"Soldiers of the Queen"", the crowd exuberantly joined in the chorus.

D. Winterbottom received an encore for ""Every Bullet has its Billet"

and responded with "'True Till Death". Prolonged cheering and singing

of patriotic songs continued after the speeches, "'The gathering

being remarkable for the fervour and genuineness of the loyal feeling

evinced .

A large crowd farewelled the men in Lissner Park and again at the

railway station as they departed for the coast. About 2,000 people

were on or about the platform and a military band played outside amid

the cheering. A large foreigner, who announced "I'm a Boer Man" and

""hooted vigorously"" was knocked down by a bystander, and the Miner

reported: ""The indiscreet enemy of the country he makes a living

in would have got a good deal more from a Queensland native if the 20

police had not Insisted on order being maintained." The First

Contingent sailed on 1 November 1899 aboard the Cornwall: it

consisted of fourteen officers, 248 other ranks, 284 horses and two

machine guns. The enlistment period for these volunteers was one

year.

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The organization for the Second Contingent was well underway

by 4 January 1900. While public affection for the volunteers was

at a high pitch, reservations were expressed about the competence

of the state's military authorities:

It is fortunate indeed that the general idiocy of the military management in Brisbane has no effect on the generosity and enthusiasm of the public.21

The Northern Miner's comments reflected a characteristic which was

to prevail for the duration of the war: Charters Towers feeling was

first for local troops; governments and Empires came second, and

if condemnation was needed it was freely given. Charges of

incapacity and indifference were made by Charters Towers people over

the handling of the Second Contingent. The war office in Brisbane,

the public was told, could not handle even half a dozen men without

some error being made. As these men were volunteers "running risks

and making sacrifices for their country, their treatment at the hands 22

of the authorities was distressing"". Arrangements for a temporary

training station were poorly organized. Camp was pitched on a

swampy flat below high water mark, and the men, sleeping on the

ground, were flooded out on the Saturday night and had to stand

until morning in water up to a foot deep. The weather was stormy and

the ground became sodden with the flood; finally the tents collapsed,

""altogether the men experienced a wretched night"". Camp was

eventually struck on the Sunday, provoking the Miner to comment: "It

is not known whether the Acting Commandant will gazette the site as a „23

Naval Station! Conditions Improved with the move to the Exhibition

Building but public opinion in Charters Towers was not appeased by

remarks by the camp commandants, Lyster and Hutchinson, as to the

good qualities of the volunteers. Indignation remained, and the

Brisbane papers were condemned by the Miner "[being] afraid to crltise 24

asinine officialdom at the capital"'. In conclusion the Miner

hoped that the volunteers' opinions of the officers supervising the

camp would soon be available for publication.

As preparations continued there was some discord over the appoint

ment of officers. Lieutenant Stodart of the Queensland Mounted

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Infantry was appointed Lieutenant in the Second Queensland Contingent

to replace Captain Fred Toll of Charters Towers who was assigned as

special service Officer. This appointment was notified together with

Information that one of the Charters Towers volunteers, Goos, who

travelled to Brisbane to join the contingent, had been rejected

because he was under age. Having learned that Lieutenant Stodart, son

of the member for Logan, had only recently turned twenty, the Miner

exclaimed Indignantly: ""It seems our war office considers a man is 2

entitled to command men before he is twenty-one but not to be commanded".

But there was no harping on official shortcomings: the dominant theme

was pride that Towers men "'more than held their own", one which began

during training:

The rifle shooting contest consisted of squads of 40 men each, Haylock securing first honours in his squad at 500 yards range with 25 out of a possible 30, and coming second at 300 yards with 22. Carpendale headed his squad at 300 yards securing 26 out of a possible 30.

Initially there were seven volunteers from Charters Towers in the

Second Contingent, excluding the two officers. Captain F.W. Toll and

Lieutenant J. Walker. However, only three of them accompanied their

officers to South Africa - Carpendale, McMahon and Price. Goos and

Jamerson were rejected on the grounds of age and riding ability

respectively, Haylock for reasons unknown; Jones later joined the 28

Seventh Australian Commonwealth Horse. Public farewells and formal

gatherings became common practice when groups of volunteers departed

Charters Towers to join later contingents including the Imperial

Bushmen.

The most distinguished contingent which included several Charters

Towers men, was the Fifth, departing on 6 March 1901 on S.S. Templemore.

It included the veteran, Captain Frederick William Toll, who was to be

Queensland's most decorated soldier of the Boer War. In 1899 Toll had

enlisted for service in the South African War as a private, but was

recommlssloned as Special Service Officer with the rank of Captain,

and first served In South Africa with the Second Contingent, Joining

Lord Robert's army near Bloemfonteln he was given charge of a company

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of the 44th (Essex) Regiment. He was in the advance from Bloemfonteln,

and operations around Leeuwkop and Paadekrall where his horse was

shot from under him; at Boxburg, he captured an armed Boer. In

addition to his other duties, he became officer-ln-charge of 29

Intelligence and Signallers. On the occupation of Nellspruit, he

was appointed Provost-Marshall until the expiry of his service

period. He returned to Brisbane on 8 December 1900, but re-enlisted

in 1901, to accompany the Fifth Queensland Contingent as second-in-

Command to Lieutenant-Colonel J.F. Flewell-Smith. On arrival in

South Africa, Flewell-Smith was appointed District Commandant in the

Cape Colony; Toll, promoted to Major, assumed command. The "Fighting

Fifth" saw considerable action - in Orange River Colony, Caledon River,

Wepener and Mokaral Drift. In March 1902, the contingent returned

on the S.S. St. Andrew. F.W. Toll had been promoted, awarded two

medals, seven bars and five times mentioned in despatches. Burla

claims: "Eight bars were the highest possible number a soldier

could attain and Colonel Toll then a Brevet-Major held seven".

The exact number of Charters Towers men who served In South Africa

cannot be established. The public honour board on the Memorial Kiosk

records eighty-two men, three of whom were officers. For certain,

this was not the full complement; at least two officers, Carroll and

Glasgow, are not among the names, and there would have been a number

of other Charters Towers men enlisting in other centres, such as

Townsville and Brisbane. The most likely figure would be just over a

hundred.

A study based on New South Wales has found that the bulk of 28

volunteers were drawn from the defence forces and reservists. While

the officers from Charters Towers were members of the Kennedy Regiment,

and while some members of the local defence unit tried unsuccessfully

to enlist, like Dr. Huxtable, the vast majority of volunteers had

no military connection whatever.

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JOAN NEAL

It is difficult to gauge the motives of individual volunteers in

seeking to serve in South Africa. Certainly it was not an alternative

to unemployment: Charters Towers mines were short of men now that

cyaniding was developing on a larger scale. Army pay for a private

was not attractive, at just over thirty shillings a week, when average

earnings in mining were nearly £4. Volunteers from surrounding rural

properties may have seen the war as an escapade suited to their skills

of horse riding and markmanship, but they were few. Popular Imperialism

seems the most plausible answer: its chief elements were an earnest

conviction by colonials that they were part of the Empire and pride 29

in British tradition. The large majority of volunteers from Charters

Towers were colonial-born, even though their parents might have been

immigrants: pay books record only one volunteer's next of kin living 30

abroad. Many of them would have been seeking adventure but

whether their response can be Interpreted as a manifestation of nascent

nationalism is debatable. If it existed to any extent it must have

been within the context of Imperial sentiment so demonstrably

exhibited by the citizens of Charters Towers at large. Certainly

there was pride in the achievements of colonial volunteers; certainly

newspapers emphasized Australia's coming of age, as the Boer War

coincided with Federation: but the theme of Empire was always present.

The same newspapers viewed the volunteers' sacrifice as a contribution

to Empire.

It may help to explain sustained support for the War that only two

Charters Towers men were killed, both late in the war: J.P. Hannon on

8 January 1902 and J.H. Anderson the following month. Five men were

wounded: Mundy, Rosslter, Cox, Furness and Anderson. These were

numbers sufficient to lend dignity to rhetoric about sacrifice, but

not to induce the feeling of wasteful slaughter so widespread in the

Great War of 1914-18.^^

Engagements in South Africa involving the Charters Towers troops

were cause for much public rejoicing. These events included the

106


engagement at Sunnyside and the surrender of the Boer General, Cronje

with four thousand troops on 29 February 1900, but undoubtedly the

highlight of the war for Charters Towers was the Relief of Mafeking.

The news that Mafeklng had been relieved on 18 May 1900 reached

Charters Towers the next day. Fire bells clanged for two hours, the

telephone exchange was unable to cope with the hundreds of calls. In

mines and mills whistles were blown, and all the churches including

the "German Church" rang their bells. Flags appeared ever3rwhere, and

in Hodgkinson Street the blacksmiths at Malcolm Brennard's shop "beat

out a merry musical j ingle with their hammers on swinging iron'". At

the Town Hall £10.13.6 was collected in shilling subscriptions and

Mayor Benjamin immediately despatched the following cable:

Colonel Baden-Powell: Citizens of Charters Towers, Queensland, congratulate you on your noble and heroic defence of Mafeklng. Convey sympathy to your people who are our people. In suffering endured in upholding the honour of the dear old flag. Invite you to visit this town at your earliest convenience.30

"'Ever foremost In patriotic movements"', the Mayor followed up with

a telegram to the Premier enquiring which day was to be a public

holiday. To his delight, authority was given for 23 May to be set

aside. This holiday applied not only to Queensland, but also to 31

the rest of Australia.

Informal lively celebrations continued throughout the day at the

Exchange, and many other hotels:

The news had a remarkable effect on staid and usually imperturable citizens and many a cheque has on its butt a fair figure for ""Mafeklng expenses"" as a consequence.

Meanwhile Major Hooper of the Kennedy Regiment was arranging a

torchlight procession of the Defence Force and Fire Brigade for that

evening. Early in the afternoon crowds began to assemble in Gill

and Mossman Streets and business came to a standstill. At the Stock

Exchange, "Mafeklngs superseded Brilliant Centrals, Queen Crosses or

Papuans and members spurn [ed] buyers, sellers and commission".

Shortly after seven o'clock in the evening, the fire alarm was

sounded and the brigade rushed to the house of a doctor whose

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JOAN NEAL

""patriotism exceeded his caution"" In lighting a bonfire. An hour

later, the fire brigade formed up behind the Mayor and marched from

Central Station in a torchlight procession to the corner of Gill and

Church Streets, where they joined with the Defence Force and Band,

members of the Rifle Club and Londoners' Club and public. As they

marched past Drummond & Go's Caledonian House, hats were taken off

and cheering erupted from the crowd. A life-size painting of Baden-

Powell hastily completed from a photograph had been erected on the

awning surrounded with flags. More flags were suspended from the

Post Office to the Bank of North Queensland. As the procession

marched along Gill Street, the band played ""Soldiers of the Queen"',

""Hero of Trafalgar"', and other patriotic songs. The throngs lining

the route joined in the singing. Many buildings along the route had

put up gas lights especially for the occasion. Prominent citizens

followed the procession, including Fred Johnson who was carried

shoulder high by the crowd which ""recognised the services which 32

Mr. Johnson had rendered in the national cause". The celebrations

did not end with the procession; later that night groups of men were

singing patriotic songs in the streets and many impromptu concerts

took place in hotels, ""more remarkable perhaps for their enthusiasm

than for their sweet melody".

On Sunday morning the Relief of Mafeklng was a major topic for

sermons in the churches. In the No. 2 Methodist, the Rev. W. Smith

selected the text from Luke 21-19, ""in your patience possess your

souls"". He declared that the victory which was being celebrated

throughout the Empire would make the British people "stronger and

healthier". They were coming out of the present conflict "chastened,

purified, uplifted, more worthy [and] more fit to rule". The evening

service conducted by Rev. T.F. Thurlow also concentrated on Mafeklng,

and the congregation enthusiastically sang "Praise God from Whom All

Blessings Flow". At the No. 1 Methodist Church the Rev. W. Dinning

told his congregation "a great burden had been lifted from off their

hearts", and he concluded by reading a long extract from the British

Weekly describing the appearance of the men at Ladysmith before help

came. At the Presbyterian Church the Rev. Galloway addressed young

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people at "Sunday School"" on the siege and Relief of Mafeklng, and

led the congretaglon at the evening service in a special hymn,

""National Thanksgiving"'. References were made to the occasion by

Anglican ministers at St. Pauls and at St. Georges, Queenton.

Rev. J. Pike of St. Pauls spoke of ""the quickened national life such

heroism as that of the defenders has created". Finally, the Baptist

Church of Rev. C. Rose praised the efforts of Baden-Powell and

Lord Roberts:

Two things go to make a real man and a reliable soldier. There are high morality and a keen sense of duty stimulated with an unostentatious Christianity.

The Northern Miner issued several hundred "'extraordlnaries'" fully

Illustrated for the Mafeklng celebrations. The response was

overwhelming and in answer to numerous applications a second edition

with additional illustrations ""in khaki coloured ink" was produced.

The Miner office also printed "A Souvenir of Mafeklng Night" in

colour, the cover showing a photograph of Baden-Powell surrounded by 33

Union Jacks. Some local business houses such as Daking-Smith and

Co. did good trade in souvenirs, especially in medals and facsimiles

of the Generals. A small brass one containing a photograph of

Baden-Powell sold for one shilling, but supplies sold out, and ten

shillings was the asking price by those who had bought one. (Lord

Roberts, Commander-in-Chief, sold for only five shillings.)

By Wednesday morning, preparations were well under way for the

official Mafeklng celebrations. The Londoners' Club postponed its

smoke concert in aid of the Indian Famine Relief Fund which was to

have been held that night. Fred Johnson, who usually acted as

marshall on such occasions, opened the procession to "public bodies"

and arranged the Wednesday night march and order of floats and bands.

A large crowd lined the streets as the numerous organisations

assembled under a bright "electric star" outside Winterbottom's

Excelsior Hotel. Church and Gill Streets and hotel balconies were

congested with spectators. Promptly at 8.00 p.m. Johnson commenced

the procession, and the Defence Force of one hundred and fifty men

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34 led off marching to "Soldiers of the Queen". The procession was

the largest and most representative ever witnessed in Charters Towers.

Marching eight to ten abreast, the long procession moved off from

the Excelsior Hotel into Gill Street. Business houses en route were

brilliantly lit up and decorated for the occasion. At Collins' and

Clarke's Hotel "the balconies trembled with their human burden""; the

crowds enthusiastically sang along with the band. The route taken

followed Mossman Street down to Mary Street as far as Towers Street.

In the Fire Brigade Group each man marched holding a torch. Each

group in the march was described in detail by the Northern Miner

reporter: from the Druids, "in their quaint attire...it was fitting

that the descendants of Boadlcea should participate in the honour

done to a true heart of oak-Baden-Powell", to the Bankers, "it is not

often the sedate and aristocratic bankers wax warm, unless over a 35 dishonoured cheque or a leaden sovereign". The bankers lorry

carried a Union Jack and a huge banner, depicting a cartoon of

"President Kruger with an air of deep humility holding his hat with

black streamers from it, in his hand was a bill of mortgage to John

Bull - Bill of Mortgage; Transvaal to John Bull and heirs. P. Kruger,

Witness: Bobs'". The large number of athletic clubs which existed

in Charters Towers ""in such poor surroundings"' received special mention

by the reporter who considered their display reminiscent of

Wellington's remark ""that Waterloo was won on the football fields of

Eton"".

The highlight of the procession was the Stock Exchange lorry drawn

by Messrs Allen and Sons' four large greys and draped in the national

colours. High in the centre was the British lion, jaws distended

with the Transvaal flag disappearing down his throat. The chorus of

the Stock Exchange members provided amusement and laughter among

onlookers:

The members of the Stock Exchange, possibly from their habit of evading calls, do not possess a songster with any range of voice, and though Mr. Goodyear heroically strove to lead his comrades up and onwards through half a dozen octaves, the enthusiastic neck stretching top

HO


notes were missing...The brokers attack on the high notes of "Soldiers of the Queen" was as noble and heroic as the charge of Balaclava, but also like that charge it was magnificent, but it was not war, and it was not music.37

The celebrations continued after the procession with a huge

bonfire at the mullock heap of Mill's United. Several men had been

engaged for many hours beforehand building the bonfire under the

supervision of F.C. Brewer, Deputy Superintendent of the Fire Brigade.

It contained tar barrels, pine and other timber, "while a slightly

literary element was imparted to the structure" by several loads of

old books from the School of Arts. The mullock heap was surrounded

by participants from the procession and thousands of onlookers, the

crowd estimate being twelve thousand. The fire brigade, carrying

torches, climbed to the top of the mullock heap and saluted Mayor

Benjamin as he lit the fire. This was followed by the firing of a

feu de joie by the Defence Forces, while the Liedertafel sang '"God

Save the Queen"". As the Northern Miner reported:

It disclosed a scene such as has never before been seen in Charters Towers, for never before has such an enormous concourse of people...been gathered together on Charters Towers soil.38

Impromptu celebrations continued after the bonfire; one of the

largest was at Collins' Hotel. Thomas Austin Craven "gave us the

'Death of Nelson' from the balcony", with jockeys Ray O'Neill and 39

Ross, "tight as bottles", holding the music on each side of him and

joining in the chorus. Fred Johnson addressed the crowd from the

balcony with a "spirited account" of the defence of Mafeklng. He 40

concluded by leading the crowd in three cheers for Baden-Powell.

The festivities lasted well into the night. When Anderson Dawson,

State Labour Leader and member for Charters Towers, attempted to

address the crowd at Collins' Hotel, he was received coolly because 41

of his criticisms of the volunteers in parliament. With glasses

filled, Goldsworthy and Fred Broomhead, Dick Hand and the Halls led

the patriotic singing at the close of the event, and for the finale

Tom Craven, "the best tenor ever heard on the field", led the

111

JOAN NEAL

42 assembled crowd with "Good Company". The festivities were

subsequently adjourned to many private homes. At P.J. Allen's

residence, Mt Alma, another bonfire was lit, topped with an effigy

of President Kruger - which was demolished by the guests throwing

stones before it was engulfed in flames. The last act of the Mafeklng

celebrations was the reply to Baden-Powell's telegram which arrived 43

on 11 June, "Hearty thanks for generous greetings and invitation''.

In contrast to celebrations for Mafeklng and a public dinner party

for Major Toll's return, peace came almost as an anticlimax. Fewer

people attended gatherings notable for their restraint. When the

cable arrived on 2 June announcing an end to the war, church bells

were rung and whistles sounded at the various mines and batteries.

R. Millican, President of the Stock Exchange invited all members and

a few leading citizens to Collins' Exchange Hotel to ""have a glass

of wine". Official celebrations hosted by the Mayor, Robert Gardner,

were confined to a gathering of selected citizens at the Town Hall 44

that same afternoon. Plant, proposing the toast to "the King"" said

that the peace had not come about suddenly; they had been expecting

it for some time. He prayed that "the peace would be a lasting one,

but should the occasion arise again, Australia, Queensland and 45

Charters Towers would do their best to help the Empire". All speakers

pledged their loyalty to the Empire; some emphasised the virtues of

war in bringing various parts of the Empire together and "knitting

them in one common bond"". A public procession was held, but the

crowds lining the streets saw only the fire brigade and band, as the

Defence Force and other organisations were given insufficient notice.

Starting from the Divisional Board, the line of the procession was

marked by the ""glare of torches"' and ""the shooting of balls of

variegated colours from Roman candles"". The fireworks continued from

Mossman Street where a fire balloon was sent up "to disgorge a

shower of coloured fireballs"'. The bank played patriotic tunes and

many of the crowd joined the procession. When it dispersed the

celebrations continued privately. A gathering of seventy or eighty

people at the Club Room of the Australian Hotel was entertained by

the music from the Liedertafel and numerous speeches.

112


Clearly, public enthusiasm and fervour for the war had waned

by 1902; the efforts of a few zealous citizens, however, sustained

'"patriotic"' exhibitions. As early as February 1901 the Charters

Towers Mining Standard had commented that the public was becoming

increasingly bored with the tedium of the war. However, there was

no up-surge of anti war feeling, merely a decline of public Interest

in events of the guerilla war.

Writing of Australia generally Field and Connolly noted the patriotic 46

receptions and processions and their subsequent decline. "'[The] size

and enthusiasm of the welcoming crowds had fallen to humble proportions

by August 1900" according to Field. Connolly suggests that "'few people

farewelled contingents which left in the later stages of the conflict"',

as the "fascination with the war and pride in colonial troops [which]

probably rivalled imperial enthusiasm as motives for attendance" had

long subsided.

In Charters Towers the decline was neither so quick nor so steep;

moreover enthusiasm revived at least briefly on Toll's return and in

the peace celebrations. The sustained level of volunteer enlistment

underlines the point. Charters Towers furnishes no support whatever

for Field's claim that the declaration of peace provoked little

response because of a newly acquired guilt complex over the participa

tion in the war:

The Australians went home to find their nation bent on forgetting the whole thing. Peace came as a blessing to the Australian people, not because it ended a period of national bloodshed and grief, but because it closed an episode in their history which in their enthusiasm and ignorance they had elevated into a great national trial and triumph; only to find as their enthusiasm dulled and their ignorance lifted, that they were embroiled in a war that brought no national honour. '

In accounting for the celebrations by large crowds on Mafeklng night.

It was significant that although the events of 23 May were official

and planiled in advance, parellellng those in other Australian cities,

there should be such Impromptu jubilation in Charters Towers on the

113

JOAN NEAL

receipt of the news of the lifting of the siege, as there was over

the victory at Sunnyside. This clearly demonstrated a genuine sense

of involvement. By comparison, crowds at the Federation celebrations

were much smaller; there were fewer Impromptu gatherings and publicity

was insignificant compared with Mafeklng. The receptions for Toll

were probably more enthusiastic than those given for other returning

officers in Australian cities because he was "the local hero returning"',

at the head of the Fifth Contingent. The sense of personal involvement

possibly accounts for the absence of widespread dissent in Charters

Towers throughout the entire war.

The tide of pro-war feeling in Charters Towers was fuelled by a

number of factors. There was the Influence of two major newspapers.

Both took a pro-war stand, and from the outset endorsed the action

of Dickson's cabinet in offering troops in advance of pressure from

the Colonial Office.

Charters Towers was a prosperous city at the turn of the century,

with little unemployment and steady wages; residents could afford the

luxury of becoming Involved in outside issues. The mining link with

the "Ultlanders" was strong in addition to closer ties with the miners

of South Africa than most other Australian cities (husbands, brothers

and friends who were on the Rand) there was sympathy for the miner 48

based partly on Its democratic heritage. Moreover the mining

Industry also provided for close links with Britain as British capital

sustained mining in the city. The large companies were British, and

often had British-born managers. It did not escape the local boards

that should British investors withdraw from the field the prosperity 49

of Charters Towers would be seriously jeopardized.

The newspapers maintained Interest and enthusiasm for the war by

devoting an extraordinary proportion of their copy to news of South

African events, and by constant publication of letters from Charters

Towers volunteers at the front. Community leaders were outspoken in

their support for the war and demonstrated tangible sympathy through

the Patriotic Fund which was one of the largest in Queensland. The

114


war permeated every aspect of Charters Towers Society - from public

lectures and debates by local ""experts" on South Africa to street

collections and sales of work for the Patriotic Fund, to magnificent

public celebrations, ostentatious send-offs and receptions for the

troops, notable for their large crowds. The Mafeklng celebrations

with street processions, numerous floats, bands and defence forces

reflected the opulence of Charters Towers in its hey-day.

Revisionists such as Connolly and Field have viewed the support

for the war by groups and individuals as a manifestation of class

divisions in Australian society rather than loyalty by birthplace.

Evidence from Charters Towers provides some qualified support for

this view. On the one hand, the middle class, especially mine

managers, brokers and businessmen, were unanimously behind the

government's decision to despatch troops, and were at the fore-front

of the local patriotic demonstrations during the war, as might be

expected. There were also a large number of expatriate Britons on

the field, who probably provided strong public support for the war

effort. On the other hand most volunteers appear to be Queensland-

born. There is also abundant evidence that the community as a whole

shared a strong pro-war sentiment, seeing themselves as British

Australians with genuine affection for the Empire.

Charters Towers lends no support whatever for Connolly's conclusion,

that ""grievances of class, nationality and religion produced dissident

middle class elites and an articulate working-class leadership at

odds with the prevailing imperialism" and that the "working classes

were the largest group containing significant numbers hostile or

apathetic towards the prevailing Imperialism. There was no anti

war middle class element: there was only a small anti-war element

gathered around Dawson and Burrows. There was no substantial

opposition from the working class organisations such as the miners'

union, or from groups of Irish Catholics. The strong and sustained

pro-war movement attracting widespread public support, seen in the

demonstrations, the donations, an official peace celebration and

115

JOAN NEAL

displays of marked hostility towards pro-Boers, can probably be ex

plained in terms of popular imperialism.

Paradoxically, the war was not a significant political issue.

Despite sustained support for the war on the part of the overwhelming

52

majority. Charters Towers and district maintained its strong pro-

Labour character at election time. Dawson, who was so trenchantly

assailed by the Northern Miner and the Charters Towers Mining Standard

for his outbursts against the war, successfully transferred to the

Senate in 1901, and was succeeded in the by-election for his former

state seat of Charters Towers by none other than Burrows, the bSte

noire of the city's financial elite who had revealed much animosity

to the war in his columns in the New Eagle. Mayor Paull, who had

been so prominent in the pro-war movement Increased his vote on his

1899 bid for parliamentary election, but was still handsomely

defeated. This suggests that many of the city's working class, who

had turned out in support of the pro-war civic leadership to

celebrate Mafeklng and hail returning troops, saw the war as an event

above party loyalty and separate from the Issues of domestic politics.

REFERENCES

1. L.M. Field, The Forgotten War, Melbourne, 1979, p.14.

2. H.C. Perry, Memoirs of Sir Robert Philp, Brisbane, 1923, p.200.

3. L.F. Fitzhardlnge, William Morris Hughes, Sydney, 1964, p.97.

4. Q.P.D., LXXXII, October 1899, p.347.

5. Charters Towers was known as The World to its citizens. G.C. Bolton, A Thousand Miles Away. Brisbane, 1963, p.263.

6. Bolton, ""Labour Comes to Charters Towers'", Labour History, no. 1 (1962), p.28.

7- ""It is essentially necessary for this reason, if for no other ...that we federate in order to bring to our assistance the real power of our democratic brothers in the other colonies... we shall put a very speedy and a very effective check on the coloured aliens"". Brisbane Courier, 8 August 1899.

116


8. North Queensland Register, 6 November 1899.

9. Northern Miner, 4 January 1900

10. Australia's reply: Lord of the loud-lunged legions! Prince of the purple press Are we but pigmy people. Lost in the wilderness? That we of a younger nation. Should call back our fighting men. At the blast of your tin war trumpet. Or the scrawl of your scathing pen? Safe in your inky dugout. Flinging your jibes about. What know you of Australia Or the Quest that brought us out? We of the younger nation. Reared on the range and plain Scornful, out of the battle. Hurl you the lie again.

Charters Towers Mining Standard, 29 March 1902.

11. Bolton, A Thousand Miles Away, p.269.

12. Even Anderson Dawson, M.L.A., one of Charters Towers' most vocal opponents of the war, had been away at the South African goldrushes, returning penniless to Charters Towers in 1887.

13. Charters Towers had a number of citizens who were members of the 3rd Queensland or Kennedy Regiment at this time. Several of these, including Captain V.C.M. Sellhelm and Captain F.W. Toll, saw service in South Africa.

14. Northern Miner, 21 October 1899. E.H.T. Plant was born in England. He was a director of a number of mines, Bonnie Dundee, Victoria and Queen, Band of Hope, and the four principal mines of the Brilliant Group. These mines had a high capital investment from England but control was left to Plant.

15. Northern Miner, 21 October 1899.

16. Major Hooper was a member of the Kennedy Regiment and Headmaster at the Queenton School.

17. This was an unmistakable reference to a remark in Parliament by Dawson ten days before: "My observation of dogs has been that when one dog gets another dog down, every other mongrel in the immediate neighbourhood thinks it is bounden duty to bite the dog underneath [The Boers]."

117

JOAN NEAL

tg. Northern Miner, 21 October 1899.

19. Northern Miner, 21 October 1899.

20. Ibid., 23 October 1899.

21. Ibid., 8 January 1900.

22. Northern Miner, 8 January 1900.

23. Tbid. Following the incident Hutchinson and Lyster commented favourably on the riding and shooting abilities of the Northern volunteers.

24. Tbid.

25. Northern Miner, 15 January 1900.

26. Many volunteers who enlisted for one contingent sailed with a later one. Thus, Furness, recruited for the first contingent, sailed with the Third. Goos, earlier rejected, left with the Third Australian Commonwealth Horse.

27. Captain R. Burla, "Crossed Boomerangs"', History of the Kennedy Regiment, 1971.

28. G.N. Connolly, "Class, Birthplace and Loyalty", Historical Studies, 18 No. 71 (1978) pp.

29. If there are added two men known to have been invalided home, the casualltles as a percentage of total Charters Towers men serving rise to 9%, rather higher than the Australian average, as is that of men killed in action. But no Charters Towers man was among those who died of sickness, a number greater in all than those killed in action.

30. For full details of the Relief of Mafeklng see Northern Miner, 21-23 May 1900. This reaction paralleled that in Britain where the verb "to maffick" was coined for hysterical mob rejoicing. S/jorter Oxford Dictionary.

31. Field, The Forgotten War, p.217. fn. 189.

32. Fred Johnson, Building Contractor, was an Alderman of the Charters Towers City Council on the executive of the Patriotic Fund and a fine orator - who was called upon to give the major speech at most civic receptions of the time.

33. Northern Miner, 23 May 1900.

34. Major Hooper was in command, Sergeant-Major Stronach in front of the band, with Sergeant Drummer Wilson.

118



36. Tbid.


38. Tbid.

39. J. Black, North Queensland Pioneers. Charters Towers, n.d., p.34.


41. See above, p. 97 & fn. 4.

42. Black, North Queensland Pioneers, p.34.

43. Telegram, Colonel Baden-Powell to Mayor, Charters Towers, 11 June 1900. City Council Correspondence laid before Council Meetings. Q.S.A. 11 CHA/06.

44. Present were Fred Johnson, F. Parkinson, R.J. Sayers, E.H.T. Plant, Captain Carroll, Sub-Inspector McNamara, and others.

45. Northern Miner, 3 June 1902.

46. G.N. Connolly, ""Class, Birthplace and Loyalty"", H.S., 18, 71 (1978).

47. Field, The Forgotten War, pp. 178-179.

48. Bolton, "Labour Comes to Charters Towers'".

49. During the 1890s British owned companies produced over 75% of the gold output. For details on British Investment in Charters Towers mines, see J. McCarthy, British Investment in Overseas Mining 1880-1914. PhD. thesis, Cambridge, 1961.

50. With at least twenty different organisations taking part in the procession and an estimated crowd of twelve thousand spectators at the Bonfire which followed, Mafeklng was to be long remembered. Among the groups participating in the procession, two societies of English origin, the Druids and the Oddfellows, were joined by the Hibernian society, whose membership was confined to practising Catholics of Irish descent, the Rechabites, a friendly society committed to temperance, and the Australian Natives Association, whose members were scattered throughout the procession as members of other associations.

119

JOAN NEAL

51. Connolly, "'Class, Birthplace and Loyalty", p.216. Connolly's conclusions were based on the occupation and origin of members of parliament in the colonies; a similar breakdown of the entire Charters Towers population is not possible.

52. Charters Towers returned Labour members for the two member constituency: Dawson and Dunsford; in the neighbouring electorates of Kennedy and Flinders, the Labour men, Jackson and MacDonald, were returned. At the 1902 state poll all four seats continued to be held by Labour men, while MacDonald captured the Federal Seat of Kennedy in 1901.

120

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